Application Of Super-Element Technique in Finite Element Analysis of Aerostructures

with the rapidly expanding aerospace industry, the use of finite element methods has increased exponentially. Today, despite having access to modern computers, large problems limit the capability of engineers to perform finite element analysis. A specialized sub-structuring technique known as the super-element approach is used to solve such large problems and to build an iterative environment for any robust design changes. The super-element approach is used in this paper to build an iterative model of a trainer aircraft. Three different approaches of super-element i.e., Main Bulk Data, Partitioned Bulk Data, and External Super-element are compared in terms of time and disk usage efficiency. The results by using super-element are validated by comparison to the original analysis. The validation proves that all three super-element-based approaches in NASTRAN provide an exact solution and that the External Super-element approach is most efficient in terms of time and disk space usage.